Champion’s Week brought news of a crew chief shakeup at Stewart-Haas Racing. Johnny Klausmeier will move from Aric Almirola’s No. 10 Ford to Clint Bowyer’s No. 14, as Mike Bugarewicz moves from Bowyer’s car to Almiorla’s.
With Mike Shiplett moving up with rookie driver Cole Custer from the NASCAR Xfinity Series to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Billy Scott, Daniel Suarez’s crew chief this year, is the odd man out at SHR. Suarez is still seeking a ride for the 2020 season.
Both Almirola and Bowyer qualified for the Playoffs this year, but neither driver won a race during the season.
“Well, I think it really just goes back to trying to be better, just trying to make the whole organization better… quite honestly, to get everybody to step up to the level of that No. 4 (Kevin Harvick) team within our four walls,” Almirola said of the personnel changes.
“They (SHR management) felt like it would be a good move to shake things up between the 14 and the 10 teams—create a new dynamic and see if that sparks some better performance.”
Bowyer agreed that goal of the moves is to find a spark.
“Success is in the people,” Bowyer said. “It’s still hard to find that chemistry. As long as I’ve been doing it, it’s all about chemistry and finding the right people and the right match to find the success on a consistent basis.
“Sometimes we’re too much the same. When I get fired up, he’s fired up. You need a little bit of that ‘opposites attract’ deal. It’s like a marriage. If you’re the same, usually sparks will fly. Eventually, one thing will lead to another and one of you is headed out.
“It never got to that,” Bowyer added, but neither team got to Victory Lane either.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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